Junior Independent
by LiterateSamwise
Summary: The son of one of Mal and Zoe's commanding officers at Serenity comes back into their lives.
1. Flashes

Title: Junior Independent  
  
Author: Tatt Skywalker  
  
Spoilers: Yeah, I supppose there are spoilers but then with only two episodes, the information has to come from somewhere.  
  
Disclaimer: I own not this show nor anything you read about in this fic except Eion Brass. Thanks to the wonderful FOX Firefly site, I was able to find out about the Battle of Serenity.  
  
Author's Note: I think this a great show with a great storyline. However, I'm going to voice my regret that FOX cancelled Dark Angel which I also thought was a great show. Any angry DA fans who come to read this, I'm on your side. I even signed the online petition... granted that may have been the "Save the Jedi Apprentice Series" petition I'm remember...  
  
  
  
FLASHES:  
  
Serenity. Could he never forget it? Still today he could remember it all. The memories - they haunted his dreams. Never would he be free of their torment.  
  
Guns blasting. The young boy hit the ground with tears in his eyes. But the fall was cushioned and he felt no pain. He opened his eyes to see the dead body of a brown-coat Independent soldier bellow him.  
  
"Eion," he was aware of someone calling him, then dragging off the corpse only to throw him behind a wall of them. He looked back the way he'd come but no one followed.  
  
Behind the wall of bodies he saw a face he recognized. "Dad!" he yelled and crawled over to hug his father.  
  
Brass Keer held his son at arms length and looked him over until he was satisfied the boy was alright. He himself was covered in blood but Eion paid no mind, embracing his father again.  
  
"In coming!"  
  
There was a loud whistle and then an explosion. The boy was unsure of anything after that. He was flying, landing a moment later. His chest and arm hurt really badly and Eion was aware of several more explosions but they sounded so far off.  
  
"Grab the kid!" someone yelled. "Let's go! Move!"  
  
He was being lifted by something - someone - he could tell but he couldn't make himself move. He fell atleast twice more only to be picked up again and carried off.  
  
Eion finally came to rest in a pile of dust and muck. He was able to open his eyes after a few moments to see Sargeant Reynolds leaning over him.  
  
"Eion," he said. "Your father. Where is he?"  
  
But the boy couldn't answer.  
  
Reynolds sighed and called, "Zoe! Take care of Eion."  
  
She came over to him, he knew, but then he remember nothing more. Soon, he gratefully slipped into darkness.  
  
Now he was dreaming in a dream. Bodies. Piled on top of one another. Eion saw Feds zig-zagging around the piles, heading in his direction.  
  
He dove behind a small stack of bodies for safety. The Feds passed and Eion observed his surroundings. The bodies. They all bore the same face. The face... of Colonel Brass Keer.  
  
He awoke with a start but he really wasn't awake, yet. Eion saw Malcolm Reynolds kneeling over a wouned man.  
  
"Sir?" the boy asked weakly.  
  
"Mac!" he yelled. "Get some water over here!"  
  
Mac Mershaw handed Eion a cup of dust-filled water. In the three months that he and his father had been there, he'd gotten used to all the dirt in the food and drinks.  
  
Reynolds helped him sit up and then grabbed him by his shoulders. "Eion, I've got some bad news."  
  
The boy knew what was coming.  
  
"Eion. Your father is dead."  
  
Six years later, light years away from the planet Hera and the valley of Serenity, a young man awoke in a cold sweat.  
  
It was still night and he felt his way along the dark walls to the sink across the room. He turned on the faucette and splashed his face with the cool water.  
  
Eion K. Brass, the name change a story he didn't want to recall, sat back down on his bed and looked out the bars of his cell at a light down the corridor. It was actually the best accomodations he'd had in months. The bed was comfortable and they fed him well.  
  
It was better than the last cell he'd been on in Tassle, he had to admit. But it wasn't like he was going to stay. No, Eion Brass only needed a way out. He was confident in his ability to talk his way out of things... or to escape if talking failed.  
  
The rest of the morning passed quickly and, thankfully, memory free. It was a good thing too. Eion spent the time looking for around his cell for a way out. Though after about two hours. Escape seemed futile. He fell backwards on his bed and sighed. This wasn't good. This was *really* not good.  
  
Just two days prior, he'd been found guilty by Wayne law to be guilty of murder. Eion hadn't meant to kill anyone. A simple run. It all went downhill though and came back to bite him in the ass.  
  
The week before, the local Alliance armory had gotten a new shipment. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. From age fifteen, Eion had been a one man resistance against the Alliance. He'd been blowing up Federal munition depots on the outer edge for years. Truthfully, it was great fun. He'd never gotten caught (not for that anyways) or ever killed anyone. Until now.  
  
He groaned. This was very bad. And worse... the execution was scheduled for later that day. 


	2. Execution

EXECUTION:  
  
Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam walked one of the dusty streets of Wayne City, capital of the sandy planet of Wayne. Mal didn't particularly like the boy beside him but their medical supplies were low and he could stand Simon's treating him like an idiot over his little medical knowledge much more than he could some stranger demanding pay for his 'service'.  
  
Simon looked uncomfortable in the extra Independent brown coat Mal had dressed him. From a well-to-do family, he most comfortable in more formal wear. In the worn Independent jacket with his hair all messed up, he felt and decidedly *looked* like a rogue spacer.  
  
But Simon had to admit, he looked like the rest of the Wayne City population. He gazed around, careful to avoid eye contact with anyone. The city was traditional outer-galaxy style. Dusty saloons, general stores and emigrants as far as the eye could see. What caught his attention, however, was on a screen in one of the windows.  
  
"...execution of E.K. Brass at noon today," he caught from the speakers.  
  
Mal nudged him. "Common place," he remarked. "Haning probably."  
  
The captain pulled the young man from the screen. "Le'ts go," he said. "We don't have all day."  
  
He complied, walking with Mal until they reached a wood plank, one story building. Simon didn't think that any medicines kept in such a place would be sterile enough to use but held his tongue.  
  
"Gavlin!" Mal shouted through the door.  
  
There was a thud and then footsteps as someone approached the door. "For The Serenity?"  
  
"It's just Serenity," Mal corrected him.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," the other man said behind the door. There was the whir of mechanical devices and the door slid open. "Come on in. I've got your stuff."  
  
The two of them walked in. "Our doctor's gonna take a look at the stuff first."  
  
Gavlin looked to protest but then shrugged.  
  
Mal motioned for Simon to go in the back room and check it out. He hesitated for a moment but with a look from the captain, he walked into the back.  
  
To his amazement, the back was actually a very sterile enviroment. As sterile as possible, anyways. Serenity's supplies lay on the floor by the door in three large crates marked 'Reynolds'. Simon opened the crates and looked through the things. Bandages, suture kits, medications... everything they needed was there in prime condition.  
  
He closed up the crates and walked out. The young doctor nodded to Mal that the supplies were okay.  
  
"Thanks for coming through, Gav," he said to the man and handed him his payment.  
  
Then he grabbed his comm unit and called Serenity. "Hey, Wash, tell Jayne and Zoe to get out here," he said. "Three fairly large crates. We'll just bring it out to you."  
  
"Aye, Aye, Cap'n," came the response.  
  
"Just get them out here," Mal responded and ended the communique. "Simon."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Come on," he said. "I want to check something out."  
  
Simon followed him out of the place, overhearing the captain tell Gavlin that if he tried to steal or sell his supplies, his people wouldn't hesitate to come in and torch the place.  
  
The two of them walked out into the street and followed along with the crowd. That's when Simon realized that they were going to the hanging. 'Was there something wrong with Mal that he wanted to see that?' Simon wondered to himself.  
  
Mal pushed through the crowded and got up close to the gallows. He leaned up against the base of the gallows and just rested there and motioned for Simon to get comfortable. They were going to be there for a while.  
  
***  
  
"Let's go, kid," the guard said gruffly as he opened Eion's cell.  
  
He stood up defiantly and grabbed his brown jacket off the chair beside his bed. The colonel's insignia were newly polished, looking as sharp as the first time his father had put them on.  
  
The guard bound his hands and led the young man out of the jailhouse towards the gallows. 


	3. Gallows

A/N: Yes, this is short but I'll try and make future chapters longer. I had this stupid biology project to do... stupid bio...  
  
GALLOWS:  
  
Hundreds of years earlier on death row they'd shout out "Dead man walking!" At that moment, Eion was wondering what possessed his father to share that pointless information with him. A history teacher before the war, Brass Keer had a vast knowledge of time and space. But why he shared that particular piece of history with his son, Eion would never know.  
  
And that's how he felt as his life was coming to an end. He was a dead man walking, a defiant one with his chin up but a dead one none the less.  
  
With no hope in sight, he was nineteen and about to leave the cruel universe behind. For a fleeting moment, he felt relief. Then... he felt panic.  
  
His stride was proud but his eyes defied him. They showed the fear that he felt inside. No longer the hard gaze of the rebel, Eion Keer Brass, they were now the eyes of the boy Eion Keer. He didn't want to die. But there didn't seem much he could do about it.  
  
As the gallows came into view, Eion wished he'd been more careful and not killed those people. Then he'd be able to live.  
  
***  
  
There were hisses and boos and Malcolm Reynolds knew that the prisoner was making his final march. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see when they marched the doomed man to the gallows. Mal had heard the name E.K. Brass, the Brass part being the only thing that drew his attention. Then the E.K... chances were it was an just coincidence.  
  
Yet there was always the possibility that it meant something.  
  
When the prisoner was brought up to the gallows for execution, he shifted his leaning position to hide his surpise.  
  
Mal would have recognized Eion Keer anywhere. Or rather, he would have recognized Brass Keer anywhere and this kid was his spitting image... with less gray but just as hard and weary a face.  
  
"Eion!" he called out to the kid on the gallow stage.  
  
He turned to look down into the crowd.  
  
Recognition and a flash of hope entered Eion's eyes but were soon extinguished with a shove in the back by the guard. Mal wanted to jump up there and knock the man out. Yet that wouldn't do any good.  
  
"Zoe?" he said into a wrist communicator. "You'll never guess who I just met at the public hanging today."  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Do I want to know?" she asked.  
  
Wash was reclined in the pilot's seat, watching Zoe. "Probably not," he commented.  
  
"Keer's kid," Mal told her. "He's the hanger. I'm not sure what happened. From what I pick up, he blew up a federal munitions depot and killed the night crew."  
  
"Well, what are you going to do?"  
  
Her husband sat up and got ready making preflight checks. Everytime Mal called in, he was in trouble and needed help. That help always came in the form of Wash and Serenity.  
  
"I'm not going to let him hang," Mal said and then ended the communique.  
  
Wash groaned and pulled Serenity up. Unlike the drunks from the bar, these Alliance cronies would know that the ship was not, in any way, armed.  
  
***  
  
Simon had heard the exchange between Mal and Zoe and groaned to himself. He never should have agreed to leaving the ship. Even if he could be sure River was safe, even if he was the doctor and these were medical supplies. Now he was going to get into more trouble than he ever wanted.  
  
Now, rescuing a convicted murder right before his execution wasn't nearly as heavy as running off with his sister. That had been family. So here was this kid causing him to risk his life because Mal knew him.  
  
"Go back and get the supplies ready," Mal told the young doctor. "They'll get you first and then come here. We've got some time while they read off the charges and sentence and that."  
  
Okay, so maybe he was safe. That was good.  
  
Mal obviously thought so too as he was quick to get Simon moving. They really *didn't* have much time and Serenity was coming for him first.  
  
***  
  
Eion watched as the man who had been with Mal left.Whatever hope he had left disappeared with the retreating man. There was no way he could rescue him alone and he had just sent his only help away.  
  
But Mal caught Eion's eye and he felt that everything would be alright. 


	4. Rescue

RESCUE:  
  
Wash piloted Serenity towards Wayne City. Kaylee had the engines silent to avoid any unwanted observation. Not that a ship flying low over Wayne City was in anyway unusual, it was just to stay as unnoticed as possible. People just didn't hold for murders to be taken away from their immediate doom.  
  
"Who is this Brass guy?" Wash asked his wife as they flew.  
  
"We fought with him in the war," she answered.  
  
The city broke underneath them and the community center could be seen ahead. "There," she said. "Okay... skirt around it."  
  
She picked up a comm. "You ready, Jayne?"  
  
***  
  
Hooked and harnessed, Jayne stood back in the cargo hold with a very large gun. "Yeah, I'm ready," he answered. "Why we riskin' our necks for some kid anyways?"  
  
"Just be ready for my signal," Zoe responded.  
  
"We'll be ready, Zoe," Kaylee assured her.  
  
Jayne grunted.  
  
The engineer checked over the control pannel, ready to burst open the cargo bay door. "This is excitin'," she said.  
  
The man just rolled his eyes. "Riskin' my neck for some kid I dunno ain't my idea of excitin'."  
  
Kaylee just smiled. Rescue missions were always excitin'.  
  
***  
  
"Eion Keer Brass today is facing his punishment for the murder of three innocent Alliance soldiers peacefully going about their nightly rounds," the city's mayor read off a scroll to the people surrounding the gallows. "This vile terrorist, who cares not for the lives of any, intitionally killed three men at once and shows no remorse. Therefore, it was the decision of Sheriff Gomer, Innkeeper Thenardier, Doctor Rafai and myself that he must face the consequence of death just as he forced his victims to face."  
  
The mayor turned to a burly man with a black hood. "Executioner, please prepare Mr. Brass."  
  
Burly nodded and placed a noose around Eion's neck. Then he adjusted the size of the noose so it fit snuggly.  
  
"Thanks," Eion said half sarcastically, half sincerely. A good tight noose ensured his neck would snap and he wouldn't hang strangling. He would be thankful for a quick death.  
  
"Mr. Brass, have you any final words?"  
  
There was a certain sort of whistling sound and everyone looked up. Suddenly, Mal was beside him on the gallows, gun pulled and pointed at the mayor.  
  
"'Bout time, Jayne!" he shouted up at the ship and Eion noticed a man hanging out of the ship.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," the man muttered and hit the wood with a thud. Out of his boot he pulled a large knife and cut the noose off. Then he Eion by the back of his coat and he felt the rope they were hanging from retracting.  
  
"Okay, thank you for the lovely hanging everyone," Mal said to the people. "But we've really got to go. Can't stick around."  
  
Just in time, he grabbed Jayne's foot and kept his gun pointed at the awestruck townspeople as the three of them were pulled up into the awaiting ship.  
  
Hitting the inside deck of the Firefly, as Eion could now ID the model, Mal stood and spoke into a communicator. "Now the good doctor."  
  
The ship, still flying low, flew back towards the edge of the city. Jayne hadn't unhooked and a few minutes later, taking with him two more ropes, he dove back out the back of the ship. Eion ran to the edge to watch him and another man hook three crates to the ropes. The strong man had to help the younger on to a crate as they were hoisted back on board.  
  
The boy helped hoist the crates on board and unhook them. He was quite amazed by the team work that this ragtag crew was able to initiate. It was really amazing.  
  
Manual work done and the ship now gaining altitude, Mal turned to Eion.  
  
"Welcome to Serenity," the captain said.  
  
"Serenity," Eion repeated, remembering.  
  
"Serenity."  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: A bit of action that could have been a bit elaborated on. Sorry, I'll go into more detail with other chapters. Promise. I just want to get this one done since it's been so long. So, R/R and there'll be more on the way! 


End file.
